Türkiye’s parliament speaker on Friday strongly condemned Israel’s overnight airstrikes in southern Lebanon, calling them “absolutely unacceptable” and vowing continued solidarity with the Lebanese people as regional tensions intensify.
"Israel’s aggression last night is absolutely unacceptable and cannot be approved. Once again, we condemn Israel in the strongest terms,” parliament speaker Numan Kurtulmuş said at the Dicle University 2025-2026 Academic Year Opening Ceremony.
"With this attack, I wish to reiterate that we stand with the people of Lebanon,” he noted, adding that the assaults were not fundamentally different from earlier strikes on Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Tunisia, and even Qatar.
"They (the Zionist regime) see all the peoples of the Middle East as slaves, as non-human beings. The visible face of today’s imperialism is Zionism. For more than a century, they have brought the Middle East to this point with the first Sykes-Picot 'divide and rule' strategies.
"Their goal is to divide more, fragment further, and shrink more. Our goal, however, is to integrate more, unite more, and grow further. Because we know that although they drew borders in the first Sykes-Picot to divide the people of the region, they could not divide their hearts.”
The Israeli military carried out five airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Thursday, breaching the cease-fire agreement that has been in effect since November 2024.
Lebanon’s state news agency NNA said two attacks targeted the town of Bnaafoul in Sidon, and a third in Khirbet Dweir between the towns of Sarafand and Baysariyeh.
Israeli fighter jets also bombed an area between the towns of Roumine and Houmine in the Nabatieh district, added the agency.
The parliament speaker stated that the region is caught in an extended cycle of power struggles that requires a greater problem-solving capacity from local actors and warned that recent events have shown that some actors have no interest in peace.
"For that, as Türkiye, we must pull ourselves together, make the best sense of the period ahead of us, and continue on our way,” he said.
Turning to domestic priorities, Kurtulmuş argued that Türkiye must seize the moment to become a stronger, more influential nation-what he called "Türkiye’s Century.”
"Therefore, we are obliged to make Türkiye-the century ahead of us-a Türkiye whose word is strong and whose power is effective,” he said, calling on political actors and society to focus on two tasks: first, to build a fully just, peaceful, and united society in which "words and hearts,” not guns, determine the nation’s course; and second, to take a leading role in preparing proposals for a new, fair global order.
He also expressed confidence in ongoing efforts to achieve lasting peace and security within Türkiye.
"This time we will succeed, this time peace will prevail, this time welfare will prevail, this time brotherhood will prevail,” he declared, emphasizing the government’s commitment to a future free of terrorism and social strife.
Furthermore, the speaker mentioned the economic and political costs Türkiye has faced in recent years.
"Türkiye has spent at least $2 trillion on this struggle with its alternative costs,” and argued that such burdens must be left behind as the country presses forward.
He returned to his domestic rallying cry for a violence-free Türkiye.
"We know that the doors of a process that will ensure no more blood is shed in Türkiye, that people no longer feel uneasy, and that they live in peace have been opened wide, and we will continue to struggle on this path.
"Let me say from the beginning to the end what I will say: ‘This time we will succeed, this time peace will prevail, this time welfare will prevail, this time brotherhood will prevail.’”
Kurtulmuş added: "When Türkiye’s experience in this matter is successfully completed, it will become a model that will be taught in many universities around the world, in many faculties of political science, sociology departments, and research centers as 'Türkiye’s peace experience,' and it will be presented as an example to the world.”
Kurtulmuş also reflected on the limits of the current international system, citing Gaza and the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine as evidence that "there is no global system capable of securing peace.”
He said that the imbalance of power, in which the strong dominate and the weak suffer, must be challenged by Turkish initiative across domestic and international fronts.
"This is our duty as Turks. It is among our basic responsibilities. Our university’s responsibility is this, the responsibility of politics is this, and one of the responsibilities of civil society is this,” he said.
